Reconnecting with nature through hiking, camping, and paddling
Photographs of anything that flies, swims, hops or crawls
This Pearl Crescent butterfly rests peacefully in a bed of white and yellow flowers. According to “An Instant Guide to Butterflies” by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons, male Pearl Crescents patrol their territory and will fly at other butterflies and insects.
I’ve been experimenting with photographing hummingbirds as they fly to our feeder. It’s quite an exercise in patience. This little female comes regularly but sometimes it’s 15-20 minutes between her visits. I captured this image recently after waiting for about 45 minutes. It was her third visit but the only one with sharp enough focus and good enough lighting to share.
In past years I’ve noticed the hummingbirds come more frequently later in the summer. Perhaps there are simply more of them after they’ve raised a brood or two? Or maybe there are just fewer feeding options for them? Whatever the cause, I’m hoping to get more images before they migrate south for the winter.
The cardinal is the state bird of Virginia and there are plenty around. They can be tough to photograph because they never seem to allow people to get very close and they tend to move quite a bit. As I was photographing a landscape I heard the easily identifiable chirp of a cardinal and noticed this male watching me from a nearby tree. He stayed put long enough for me to take several photos before flying away.
This gold finch, in winter plumage, was feasting on the seeds of a sycamore tree near the James River. It was rather far away and very high up in the tree but I was able to zoom in and crop the photo to produce this image.
This gray squirrel came by to get in on the action as birds were dropping seeds from my backyard feeder.
These painted turtles remind me of three friends posing for a portrait. They were basking in the sun, soaking up some solar energy in the Great Dismal Swamp when I took this photo.
This meerkat and its friends were digging in their sandy enclosure at the Metro Richmond Zoo when we visited in early April.
This painted turtle was sunning itself on a cool spring day which probably allowed me to get closer than I otherwise might have. There were a few other turtles nearby but I like the coloration of this one.
This alpaca was standing with the sun on its back when I approached. In order to properly expose its face I had to massively over expose the background. In this case that was probably for the best. There was nothing particularly scenic behind the alpaca and the white background really focuses attention on the animal.
I spotted this Horned Grebe swimming in one of the canals at The Great Dismal Swamp. It didn’t seem to mind me watching it at all. It just swam around, in and out of the shadows and would occasionally dive under water. I was able to get quite a few photos of it but this is one of my favorites.